Stephen Harper

Stephen Joseph Harper was born on April 30, 1959, in Toronto, Ontario. He grew up in the Toronto area but moved to Alberta in 1978 to work in the petroleum (oil) industry. He later attended the University of Calgary. After graduating with a master’s degree in economics in 1991 he entered politics.

Harper was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1993. He was a member of the Reform Party, which was formed to speak for the western provinces in the national government. The party expressed conservative views on social policy. Harper disagreed with the party’s leader and did not run for reelection in 1997. After leaving office, Harper led a group called the National Citizens Coalition. They worked to advance conservative causes such as lower taxes.

In 2002 Harper was elected leader of a new party called the Canadian Alliance (the successor to the Reform Party). He returned to Parliament later that year. In 2003 Harper helped form the Conservative Party of Canada. The new party combined the Canadian Alliance with the Progressive Conservative Party. In 2004 Harper was elected leader of the new party. He maintained his conservative views on social issues, but he also tried to present some more moderate views. He believed that the government should improve health care and should help to make higher education available to more people.

In January 2006 elections the Conservatives won more seats than any other party. Because Harper was the leader of the party, he became prime minister. His government emphasized lower taxes and lower debt.

The country’s economy performed well during Harper’s first two years in office. He also pleased many people in Quebec by saying that he thought they should be considered a separate nation within Canada. During his time as prime minister, Harper focused on Canada’s trade relationship with Asian countries and with the European Union. He remained in office until the October 2015 elections. In those elections, the Liberal Party gained more seats in Parliament than the Conservatives. As a result, Harper lost the prime ministership to Justin Trudeau, the Liberal leader. Harper stepped down as Conservative leader shortly after the election.

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